Lectures / Seminars / Public Discourse

Lectures on AI, data, freedom and political art.

Florian Mehnert speaks about the themes of his artistic practice: artificial intelligence, Big Data, surveillance, public space, participation and the social impact of political art.

Lecture / Seminar

Everything AI?

An in-depth look behind the scenes

Artificial intelligence is widely discussed as the next major force reshaping the world. Florian Mehnert takes a deep but accessible look behind the scenes and demystifies a technology based on probabilities, pattern recognition and statistical procedures. The lecture addresses limits, illusions and the social consequences of AI as an actor in shaping truth, knowledge, communication and power.

Lecture duration: approx. 50-60 minutes with numerous graphics

Lecture / Seminar

The Metaverse, the Future of the Internet

The transformation of the ubiquitous internet into parallel real-time simulation

The internet has become far more than a permanently available reference tool. This lecture asks where digitization, gaming platforms and immersive real-time worlds are heading, and what the metaverse may mean for society, labour, everyday life and public imagination.

Lecture duration: approx. 50-60 minutes with numerous graphics

Lecture / Seminar

The day seminar “Dataism” versus Freedom

Scalable seminar

The seminar examines the background, emergence and current strategies of so-called surveillance capitalism. It combines accessible analysis with interactive artistic elements and gives participants differentiated background knowledge for developing their own critical perspectives.

Seminar duration: scalable from 4-6 hours with extensive graphics and interactive elements

Lecture / Seminar

“Dataism” versus Freedom

The algorithmization of our lives

Algorithmic systems create new insights, economic structures and forms of social communication. The lecture asks whether Big Data analytics really produces more knowledge, or whether the attempt to bring the world under control leads to alienation and the erosion of freedom.

Lecture duration: approx. 50-60 minutes with numerous graphics

Lecture / Seminar

BIG DATA and the Algorithmic Human

Digitization, privacy and social self-determination

This lecture explains the basic ideas behind Big Data and shows how networked platforms, smartphones, smart assistants and social media register behaviour. It focuses on how digital systems reshape self-determination, privacy and political understanding.

Lecture duration: approx. 50-60 minutes with numerous graphics

Lecture / Seminar

The participatory art installation FREEDOM 2.0

Art project, app, Big Data colloquia

FREEDOM 2.0 was realized as a tri-national project in Weil am Rhein, Basel, Huningue and Stuttgart. Florian Mehnert explains the background, process and experience of an installation combining movement profiles, coloured lines in urban space and public colloquia.

Lecture duration: approx. 45-60 minutes with numerous images of the installation

Lecture / Seminar

The art experiment “11 DAYS”

Drone warfare, remote control, public response and responsibility

The art experiment 11 DAYS attracted international attention. The lecture examines reactions, backgrounds and misunderstandings of the project and asks why the experiment was ended on the sixth day. It addresses distance, responsibility, online escalation and the logic of remote-controlled violence.

Lecture duration: approx. 60 minutes with infographics, videos and images

Lecture / Seminar

Political Art, Provocation and Effect

From Waldprotokolle to FREEDOM 2.0

Can political art make a difference and influence society? Using Waldprotokolle, Humantracks, 11 DAYS and FREEDOM 2.0 as examples, Florian Mehnert explains the background of his work and his view of political art and its public effect.

Lecture duration: approx. 50-60 minutes with many illustrations

Selection

Lecture videos and public talks

Selected recordings and external documentation of lectures, colloquia and project contexts.

videoBig Data Kolloquien StuttgartSelected lecture and project recordingopen videoNRW Forum DüsseldorfSelected lecture and project recordingopen videoBig Data Kolloquien Weil am RheinSelected lecture and project recordingopen videoAbout 11 DAYS, Disseny Hub, BarcelonaSelected lecture and project recordingopen videoUniversität ErlangenSelected lecture and project recordingopen